West Virginia criminal Records

West Virginia Criminal Records

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What Defines a Criminal Record in West Virginia?

A criminal record is defined as an official document that records a person’s criminal history. The information is assembled and updated from local, county and state jurisdictions, trial courts, courts of appeals as well as county and state correctional facilities. The standard for criminal record collection and storage varies from county to county, but the majority of West Virginia criminal records are organized in online record depositories that are available to the public in the form of a Criminal Background Report. This report is accessed through a number of courts, police departments and the official West Virginia State Records Online Database. The amount of criminal records information presented on StateRecords.org will vary from individual to individual as well as what resources were used to collect the information, because different sources often have non-standardized state level protocols, storage classifications, requirements, organization and digitization processes. Criminal records in the state of West Virginia generally include the following subjects:

West Virginia Arrest Records

An arrest record is an official document providing information regarding a person that has been questioned, apprehended, taken into custody, placed in detention, held for investigation and/or charged with, indicted or tried for any felony, misdemeanor or other offense by any law enforcement or military authority. In West Virginia, a person can be arrested once they commit a misdemeanor amounting to as minor of an act as a breach of the peace or they commit a felony where there are reasonable grounds to believe they committed the crime.

West Virginia Misdemeanors

A misdemeanor is a non-indictable offense and is generally less severe than felonies; however, like felonies, a misdemeanor charge is categorized by a number-based system designed to describe the severity of the alleged crime. Misdemeanors in West Virginia are crimes punishable up to a year in county or local jail, Misdemeanor Guide. In West Virginia, lawmakers fix sentences on a crime-by-crime basis.

West Virginia Felonies

A felony offense is a criminal conviction with a maximum sentence of more than 1 year, which is to be served in a county jail or state prison. In some cases, a felony conviction can even be punished by death. Felonies in West Virginia are crimes punishable by incarceration in state prison, In West Virginia, CHAPTER 61. — CRIMES AND THEIR PUNISHMENT. Lawmakers determine the maximum possible punishment on a crime-by-crime basis. The penalty can vary from lifetime imprisonment to 1 year jail time with a certain amount of fine to be paid by the offender.

West Virginia Sex Offender Listing

A sex offender listing is a registry of persons who were convicted of committing a sex crime that is often accessible by the public. In most cases, jurisdictions compile their laws into sections, such as traffic, assault and sexual. Judges are given discretion as to whether they require registration for crimes besides the charges listed under the sex offender registration law, Sex Offender Registration Act. A judge may order an adult to register as a sex offender if the crime they were convicted of involves sexual motivation.

West Virginia Serious Traffic Violation

A serious traffic violation tends to involve willful disregard for public safety, death, serious bodily injury, damage to property and multiple minor traffic violations. When the offender receives a WV traffic ticket, he will receive points on the driving record, which will remain there for 2 years. Once the offenders accumulate 5 points, the West Virginia Division of Motor Vehicles will warn the offender that the driver's license is close to being suspended.

West Virginia Conviction Records

A conviction record is an official document providing information that a person was found guilty, pleaded guilty or pleaded nolo contendere against criminal charges in a civilian or military court. The criminal charges can be classified as a felony, misdemeanor or other offense. Conviction also includes when a person has been judged delinquent, has been less than honorably discharged or has been placed on probation, fined, imprisoned or paroled. A criminal conviction is rendered by either a jury of peers or a judge in a court of law. A conviction does not include a final judgment that was deleted by a pardon, set aside, reversed or otherwise rendered inoperative.

West Virginia Jail and Inmate Records

Jail and inmate records are official documents of information about a person’s current and sometimes past inmate status. A person who is in jail or considered an inmate is someone who has been deprived of their civil liberties and is on trial for a crime or is serving, which maintains an inmate database that is often searchable online a prison sentence after being convicted of a crime. Most states have a Department of Corrections, West Virginia Division of Corrections. These records often include the inmate’s name, incarceration date, expected release date, convicted offense and sometimes photos.

West Virginia Parole Information

Parole records are an official document that includes information regarding the release of a prisoner who agreed to certain conditions prior to completion of their maximum sentence. While the prisoner is on supervised parole, the board shall require as a condition of parole that they pay a monthly supervision fee of not less than $30, unless the board agrees to accept a lower fee after determining inability of the prisoner to pay. The board may also impose any conditions of parole it deems appropriate in order to ensure the best interests of the prisoner and the citizens of West Virginia are served.

West Virginia Probation Records

Probation records are official documents that show when a person receives probation as an alternative to prison. Probation allows people convicted of acrime in West Virginia to serve their sentences out of custody, as long as they comply with probation conditions imposed by the judge and probation officer §62-12-9. Conditions of release on probation.. Probation is issued in proportion to the crime, so the length and nature of probation differs (sometimes drastically) from case to case. Probation typically falls into three categories: minimally supervised, supervised and intensive – intensive is a form of very strict probation that has conditions that vary from state to state but that emphasize punishment and control of the offender within the community.

West Virginia Juvenile Criminal Records

A juvenile criminal record is an official record of information regarding criminal activity committed by children or adolescents who are not yet of legal adult age. Juveniles are not considered to be convicted of a crime like an adult but instead are found to be “adjudicated delinquent.”These criminal records are often mistakenly thought to be erased or expunged once a person becomes of legal adult age, but in fact the record remains unless the person petitions to have it expunged. If a person was found adjudicated delinquent to a criminal offense, they do not have to respond “yes” if asked whether they have ever been convicted of a crime, unless the question specifically asks if they were ever adjudicated delinquent as well.

West Virginia History and Accuracy of Criminal Records

The accuracy of the data of criminal records depends on the recordkeeping and technological capabilities of the jurisdiction where the record was assembled and later digitized. West Virginia criminal records archives usually tend to go back as far as the 1970s when criminal and arrest data started to be centralized and compiled into an organized database much like we use today. Accuracy was more commonly affected by human error in the past, but in the 1990s the quality and accuracy of recordkeeping improved exponentially due to the advent of the computer, so the information provide on StateRecords.org will vary from person to person.

West Virginia Megan’s Law

Megan's Law is the term for state laws that create and maintain a sex offender registry, which provides information on registered sex offenders to the public. The first Megan's Law appeared after the rape and murder of 7-year-old New Jersey resident Megan Kanka by a sex offender who lived in the girl's own neighborhood. Soon after passage of this first Megan's Law, the federal government implemented a requirement that all states establish sex offender registries and provide the public with information about those registered, Sex Offender Registration Act. Any person convicted, found guilty or suspected of a sex crime must register. Also if the offender is convicted of an offense and the sentencing judge determines that the offense was sexually motivated the offender is obliged to register.